Weekend travel trouble: Turnpike Hudson Extension down to one lane

JERSEY CITY — The weekend's trouble spot will be the Hudson County Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Only one westbound lane will be open all weekend between exits 14C and 14A to allow for repairs to a bridge deck. This is expected to create delays for most of the weekend, including those who use the Extension to exit the Holland Tunnel.

"This lane closing is necessary to address high priority and emergent repairs in the deck of the westbound NBHCE. It was coordinated with the ongoing projects on the Pulaski Skyway and the Bayonne Bridge, both of which will remain open to westbound traffic this weekend," the Turnpike Authority said in a statement.

"This will definitely be a delicate balance for those traveling between Jersey City and Newark this weekend considering the continuing rebuilding construction of the Pulaski Skyway. Keep an eye on the overhead signs for best routing," New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams said.

There are two good pieces of good news for drivers, however. No work is scheduled for the Garden State Parkway southbound for bridge deck work in Sayreville this weekend. Five lanes of traffic were merged into one at Exit 129 for the New Jersey Turnpike in Woodbridge, creating delays of nearly an hour last weekend. No work is scheduled for the long holiday weekend, with work suspended through Sunday night.

However, there will be one more similar closure later this season, according to Turnpike spokesman Thomas Feeney.

"There will be one more weekend-long construction cycle to replace bridge decks in the same area as last weekend, but it won’t be until sometime after Thanksgiving," Feeney said, adding that it has not yet been scheduled.